Posted on 08/01/2015 11:54:07 AM PDT by GoneSalt
The killing of a beloved lion named Cecil by a trophy hunting dentist from Minnesota has an outraged American public asking: What kind of monsters would kill a majestic big cat for fun?
Unfortunately for one Republican presidential hopeful, the answer is: his sons.
Donald Trump was forced to weigh in on the issue this week after a gory photo of his trophy hunting sons resurfaced online, tying his family to the very practice that has sparked fierce backlash in recent days. When asked for his response at a press conference in Scotland this week, Trump was reportedly far from condemning of the fact that his sons had a hobby of killing innocent animals, too. "My sons love to hunt," The Telegraph and The Daily Mail report Trump said, though he reportedly refused to directly address shooting endangered animals. "They are members of the NRA, very proudly. I am a big believer in the Second Amendment. But my sons are hunters, Eric is a hunter and I would say he puts it on a par with golf, if not ahead of golf. My other son, Don, is a hunter. They're great marksman, great shots, they love it. I em, like golf. I don't do that."
As benign as he makes it sound, Trump's sons are hardly run-of-the-mill hunters. The family's fortune has apparently been used to fund safaris to Africa, targeting beloved animals like elephants and leopards hunting trips that can range in the tens of thousands of dollars.
While the senior Trump has stated before that he's not a believer in hunting, his unwillingness to discourage the practice outright given the chance stands in contrast to the reaction of other public figures.
If the guides baited a lion out of a special research preserve and the lion wore a special tracker than their government ought to take action against the guides.
The Dentist is pathetic for buying a canned hunt rather than hunting for real. It’s on par with people who go into a small fenced in enclosure to shoot a farm raised “game” animal.
Does anybody else wonder if this is simply to divert attention away from planned parenthood’s bodyshop? I mean, this happens a helluva lot in Africa.
I'm guessing that it would be hard to find many Africans who would call leopards or elephants beloved. Africans see elephants as giant pests who can destroy a year's crops in an evening of foraging. Leopards are like coyotes here except they are much larger and more dangerous. Where coyotes might harass horses and cattle, leopards can and do easily kill such animals. Plus, it is not unheard of for leopards and elephants to kill humans. Hard to see how that makes them beloved.
Just remember, every would-be presidential assassin has been a leftist/democrat. Hell, Lee Harvey Oswald was an outright communist. I worry THAT is what “the left” might do, and they’ll publish their black-hearted diatribes on twitter, facebook, “the dodo” and huffpo about how much “he deserved it.”
The dentist was convicted in 2006 for the bear. Sorry I’m bad with links. He also settled out of court in a secure harassment issue him as employer for 6 figures.
Collars are hard to see on most animals. They wear the hair away underneath and settle in then get covered by hair on either side. Sometimes they are bright colors, often they are black or brown. With a big mane it would really hide. There is no huge loss that the collar was taken, it would be simple enough to dart another lion and stick on a new collar. They only last a year or two anyway. Around here we have all sorts of critters with tracking collars. I know of deer, elk, antelope fawns, sage grouse, wolf, moose, bear, skunks in the past, etc. Fish and Game says try to select another animal but if you do take a collared animal, just turn in the collar because they are expensive. No big deal.
He shot a bear outside of his designated zone. Had he been assigned the zone where the bear he shot resided in, there would be no story. Sorry but I'm giving him a pass on this one.......
He poached the cat with a collar on. The cat was being tracked for years in a study and was on a reservation.
Just because the cat had a collar didn't protect him from being shot if he wandered off the "plantation"...........
As a side note, Cecil wasn't a protected individual, he was merely a star in reality program who ventured beyond his assigned boundary.........
Alas poor Cecil........
America has over $200 trillion in unfunded mandates. I could give a bowel movement about hunting big game.
Yep, that certainly sucks.........
If the dentist didn’t have a picture he would have fared better. It’s the Internet dude! Now the public is involved and some good things will come of it.
You neglect to mention that the dentist tried to bait the bear outside the zone to avoid detection and then dragged him back to the zone after he poached it. Same with the lion but they couldn’t bring the cat back after he wandered wounded for 40 hours. Hell of a marksman this avid hunter.
Dems hunt humans, yawn. Someone not Dem hunts big game, legally, in a big game park and the world is going to end.
Hypocrites.
A mother lion would eat her young, if she were hungry enough, and then sleep at night like nothing happen.
That's not quite accurate Boardy and I don't know where you're getting your information from. POST THE LINKS!
Before we go any further here Boardy, let me ask you this: Do you hunt? Are you familiar with zones and tags and limits on game in your respective state?
If you can answer those questions with accuracy then perhaps we can have a further discussion about Dr. Palmer.........
Looking forward to hearing from you........
Yep, this will cause another bump upward in The Donald's polling.
Can I ask you a question? Do you work for a PR firm?
Donald Trump is a meanie.
I agree they can be cute and cuddly looking, but beware they are cunning and ruthless.
My weakness for the exotic Asian Minx has cost me thousands of $$ and my sanity.
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